18th (Eastern) Division

The history of 18th (Eastern) Division

This Division was established by the Eastern Command in September 1914, as part of the Army Orders authorising Kitchener’s Second New Army, K2. Early days were somewhat chaotic, the new volunteers having very few trained officers and NCOs to command them, no organised billets or equipment. The units of the Division initially concentrated in the Colchester area but moved in May 1915 to Salisbury Plain. King George V inspected the Division on 24 June.

Embarkation for France began on 24 July and units moved to assemble near Flesselles, completing concentration there five days later.

The Division served on the Western Front for the remainder of the war, taking part in many of the significant actions:

1916
The Battle of Albert* in which the Division captured its objectives near Montauban
The Battle of Bazentin Ridge* in which the Division captured Trones Wood
The Battle of Delville Wood*
The Battle of Thiepval Ridge*
The Battle of the Ancre Heights* in which the Division played a part in the capture of the Schwaben Redoubt and in the capture of Regina Trench
The Battle of the Ancre*The battles marked * are phases of the Battles of the Somme 1916

1917
Operations on the Ancre (notably Miraumont and the capture of Irles)
The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line
The Third Battle of the Scarpe, a phase of the Arras offensive
The Battle of Pilkem Ridge***
The Battle of Langemarck***
First Battle of Passchendaele***
The Second Battle of Passchendaele***The battles marked *** are phases of the Third Battles of Ypres

1918
The Battle of St Quentin+
The Battle of the Avre+
The actions of Villers-Brettoneux+The battles marked + are phases of the First Battles of the Somme 1918The Battle of Amiens
The Battle of Albert++ in which the Division captured the Tara and Usna hills near La Boisselle and once again captured Trones Wood
The Second Battle of Bapaume++The battles marked ++ are phases of the Second Battles of the Somme 1918
The Battle of Epehy^
The Battle of the St Quentin Canal^The battles marked ^ are phases of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line
The Battle of the Selle^^
The Battle of the Sambre^^The battles marked ^^ are phases of the Final Advance in Artois

When the Armistice came into effect at 11am on 11 November 1918 the units of the Division were in XIII Corpos Reserve near Le Cateau. Demobilisation began on 10 December 1918 and by 19/20 March 1919 the Division ceased to exist. In all the 18th (Eastern) Division had suffered the loss of 46503 killed, wounded and missing, of whom 13727 died and are listed in the Divisional roll of honour held at St James’s Church in Colchester.

The order of battle of the 18th (Eastern) Division

53rd Brigade

8th Bn, the Norfolk Regiment

disbanded February 1918

8th Bn, the Suffolk Regiment

disbanded February 1918

10th Bn, the Essex Regiment

6th Bn, the Royal Berkshire Regiment

disbanded February 1918

53rd Machine Gun Company

joined 13 February 1916
left to move into 18th MG Battalion 16 February 1918

53rd Trench Mortar Battery

joined by 17 June 1916

8th Bn, the Royal Berkshire Regiment

joined February 1918

7th Bn, the Royal West Kent Regiment

joined February 1918

54th Brigade

10th Bn, the Royal Fusiliers

left October 1914

11th Bn, the Royal Fusiliers

8th Bn, the Royal Sussex Regiment

left February 1915

12th Bn, the Middlesex Regiment

disbanded February 1918

6th Bn, the Northamptonshire Regiment

joined November 1914

7th Bn, the Bedfordshire Regiment

joined February 1915

54th Machine Gun Company

joined 13 February 1916
left to move into 18th MG Battalion 16 February 1918

54th Trench Mortar Battery

joined 1 June 1916

2nd Bn, the Bedfordshire Regiment

joined May 1918

55th Brigade

7th Bn, the Queen’s

7th Bn, the Buffs

8th Bn, the East Surrey Regiment

7th Bn, the Royal West Kent Regiment

left February 1918

55th Machine Gun Company

joined 13 February 1916
left to move into 18th MG Battalion 16 February 1918

55th Trench Mortar Battery

joined 17 June 1916

Divisional Troops

6th Bn, the Northamptonshire Regiment

left November 1914

10th Bn, the Royal Fusiliers

joined October 1914, left March 1915

8th Bn, the Royal Sussex Regiment

joined as Pioneer Bn February 1915

15th Motor Machine Gun Battery

joined 22 July 1915, left 4 May 1916

18th Battalion Machine Gun Corps

formed 16 February 1918

Divisional Mounted Troops

C Sqn, the Westmorland & Cumberland Yeomanry

joined 15 June 1915, left 10 May 1916

18th Divisional Cyclist Company, Army Cyclist Corps

formed 8 December 1914, left 21 May 1916

Divisional Artillery

LXXXII Brigade, RFA

LXXXIII Brigade, RFA

LXXXIV Brigade, RFA

left 25 January 1917

LXXXV (Howitzer) Brigade, RFA

broken up 3 December 1916

18th Divisional Ammunition Column RFA

18th Heavy Battery, RGA

raised with the Division but moved independently to Egypt in October 1915 and spent most of the war in Salonika

V.18 and W. 18 Heavy Trench Mortar Batteries RFA

V Bty formed 28 April 1916; was attached to Fourth Army TM School until 6 May 1916; left for II Corps on 19 February 1918. W Bty formed 21 May 1916, but broken up by 26 November 1916, having by then received no weapons

X.18, Y.18 and Z.18 Medium Mortar Batteries RFA

formed by 19 June 1916; by 19 February 1918, Z broken up and batteries reorganised to have 6 x 6-inch weapons each

Royal Engineers

79th Field Company

80th Field Company

92nd Field Company

18th Divisional Signals Company

Royal Army Medical Corps

54th Field Ambulance

55th Field Ambulance

56th Field Ambulance

35th Sanitary Section

left 24 March 1917

Other Divisional Troops

18th Divisional Train ASC

150, 151, 152 and 153 Companies

30th Mobile Veterinary Section AVC

219th Divisional Employment Company

joined 3 June 1917

18th Divisional Motor Ambulance Workshop

absorbed into Divisional Supply Column 11 April 1916

Divisional histories

“The 18th Division in the Great War” by Captain G. H. F. Nichols

.

Divisional memorials

The Divisional memorial at Clapham Junction on the Menin Road near Ypres. Similar memorials stand at Thiepval and at Trones Wood on the Somme, France.

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